Gladiator
by Jet556
Summary: Baron Tass and his right hand rule over a "New Thundera." With lizard slaves serving the inhabitants and Evabon slaves fighting for the amusement of the cats, all seems perfectly happy. It isn't and the bored Zuvowang is itching for an adventure and has got one to his heart's joy!
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome back everyone. This has nothing to do with the Scott movie but there will be quite a bit of allusions to the Fast novel Spartacus once we get to the arena. I felt that out of all the Evabon Gard and Balor were the ones getting the most character development. This story is for Zuvowang who I originally envisioned as being this really fun guy who enjoyed fighting that will make the Evabon antagonists of this story a dark reflection of Zuvowang. Enjoy and review.**

**A Disease called Slavery**

The Valley of the Tombs was a place of peace. The fighter Zuvowang did not feel at home here. Occasionally, someone would come to steal from the tombs but it had been so long since he had last seen the ThunderCats. Where the ThunderCats went adventure followed! Ever since Sotark died Zuvowang had grown bored.

As Zuvowang sat beneath a statue of Antaeus Balor walked over to him. The child was… well, he just was. Balor had a few scars on him and bore a resemblance to Gard whom he was descended from.

"Zuvowang, what is slavery?"

"WHAT? Slavery? Didn't Gard tell you?"

"He said it was a disease but he never said what kind."

"Slavery is the practice of a system of owning of slaves." Zuvowang's answer didn't really help matters. Balor looked both confused and curious.

"What is a slave?" Zuvowang just looked up at the sky. He didn't like explaining this sort of thing to children! He didn't like explaining it to his own when he had been young! Why was Balor so curious?

"Balor, a slave is a person who is owned by another person." Zuvowang took a sip from a wooden goblet. "Now why do you ask?"

"Because a person like that who is badly hurt just arrived and I heard the word slavery so I asked Gard and when he told me it was a disease I looked for Dalv but he's so melancholy he didn't make any sense." Balor's explanation caused Zuvowang to cough in surprise.

"WHAT? WHERE?" Balor just pointed to the… front? Back? Anyway that was where Zuvowang was being directed and an either dead or unconscious person was being carried into the archives.

Within a heartbeat, Zuvowang jumped over to the archives. He ran in and there was… a lizard? Zuvowang blinked while Gard stood in a corner looking at the lizard with a strong memory of being hunted by all animals!

Zuvowang, the old athlete walked over to the lizard intent to know what had happened to her. "Who did you run away from?"

"Tass of New Thundera to the east… and his servant… Grubber." She coughed, not as Zuvowang had. Her lungs must have been… "They have lizards and evabon as slaves… we are used as servants, you are used as gladiators…" Instantly, Zuvowang's eyes lighted up? A tyrant using slaves for servants and sport? This was just the kind of adventure he was waiting for!

Zuvowang started dancing around and waving his arms around. There were many odd looks especially since the lizard has just died. "Oh, happy day! I'm going on an adventure! I'm going to fight a tyrant! I'm going to free slaves! Oh, happy day for me! Happy day for the Son of Ogier!"

Gard and the melancholy Dalv both watched with different looks. Dalv was flabbergasted! Absolutely flabbergasted! "He must be mad!"

"Merely enthusiastic! People like him don't handle long uneventful periods well." Gard let out a bored sigh. "I'm not getting involved." And with that Gard walked away. He was busy with something else.

Dalv just gave Zuvowang an uninterested look as he the old athlete left the archives. He wasn't enthusiastic, he was mad!

Zuvowang jumped to the top of the statue on Antaeus. He was laughing happily like a child! "I'M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE AGAIN!" And with that Zuvowang jumped out of the valley… however that last part was merely an exaggeration from Zuvowang's memoirs. He didn't as much jump out as jump onto a mount backwards which caused it to run out of the Valley of the Tombs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back everyone. In this we introduce our Evabon antagonists, I'll keep Tass and Grubber unseen for a while. I feel that blue and yellow are some of the most unused Evabon skin colors so I use them here. Also on a completely unrelated note if you know whom the main antagonist(s) is/are of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" please send me a personal message. Enjoy and review.**

**The Gladiatorial School**

Three gladiators watched the new gladiators. Brabantio, Voltimand and Octavius were their names although they had been born Menteith, Caithness and Fleance. Tass didn't like their birth names so changed them to suit his tastes.

Brabantio was a thirty-seven year old red skinned Evabon. Standing at a height of eight feet, he was cleanshaven, muscular and nine fingered since he had lost the pinky finger on his left hand. Like his two kill happy friends, Brabantio was dressed in Thunderan garb simply because he was forced to and the armor he wore resembled that of Lion-O and the late Claudus of Thundera.

Voltimand was a thirty-eight year old blue skinned Evabon. He was no different than Brabantio is appearance except that he had all fingers and was only six feet tall. He wore armor that closely resembled that of Prince Tygra but with his mark scratched into the chest: a flame that showed his fiery temper.

Octavius was a fifty-four year old yellow skinned Evabon. He was bald and overweight… at least that's how it seemed. In reality only two percent of his bodyweight was fat the rest was all muscle and he had the speed of a cleric! His garb closely resembled that of the 'late' General Panthro's, which really didn't compliment his appearance.

As they watched the new gladiators train for their certain deaths at their hands, Brabantio laughed. Loudly, he laughed. "More for my sword!"

Voltimand joined in with the laughter. "Your sword? More for my club! This is marvelous! Glorious! Fantastic! More of the joy! The joy of feeling others die by our hands!"

"Your sword and club can have their fun, I will crush them all!" Octavius started to eye a thin gladiator. He was eyeing him like he was Octavius' next meal! "What fun I'll have snapping the necks of the thin things! Mm, yes!"

Brabantio started to walk away with a smile on his face. "Yes, well I've got other business to attend to."

Octavius kept his eyes on the thin gladiators. "How old?"

"Oh, sixteen."

Voltimand burst into more laughter. "Marvelous! You're old enough to be her father!" Brabantio joined in with Voltimand's laughter. Octavius just continued watching the thin gladiators. They had a good life. They got to kill to their hearts content!


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome back everyone. This chapter introduces Zuvowang's equivalent of what Balor is to Gard. Enjoy and review.**

**Brigid**

On the road to New Thundera, Zuvowang came across a young child. A girl of eight years old, an Evabon like him with charcoal grey skin and red eyes. She was dressed in bright green and the clothing resembled the garb worn by WilyKit but with a complete skirt. The various animal races had taken some inspiration from the Evabon of a time from before Sotark whose cities, statues, weaponry, armor, the time of those Evabon were over. That was the time of a great Empire that had risen only to fall one millennia later.

Zuvowang looked at this girl. What reason did she have to be on the road alone without companion, pet or mount?

"Do you have a name, lass?" Zuvowang asked quietly. He wasn't going to be using the booming voice he usually used.

The girl looked up at Zuvowang. Upon the mount that he had landed on and had since started riding from the correct angle he looked like a giant. "Brigid." Zuvowang stroked his beard. Brigid? That had been the name of an Evabon Warrior Queen. Like how Balor had been the name of an Evabon hero!

"Where are your parents?"

"My mother died a few years ago and my father has been taken to New Thundera." Brigid looked up at Zuvowang with sad eyes. "I want to save him. See if they'll take me as a servant if he can go free."

"Maybe I can free your father. I'm going there anyway to free saves." Zuvowang scratched his neck. There was an itch and he wasn't happy when it came to itches.

"Who are you?" There was much curiousness in Brigid's voice.

"I'm Zuvowang." Zuvowang then started to scratch his beard. It must have been growing. He'd have to give it a trim. His mustache too!

"You're Zuvowang!" There was a mix of surprise and shock in Brigid's voice. "I was expecting someone bigger… and younger looking… and not so bearded… and mustached."

Zuvowang burst into laughter. "I haven't gotten that in years!"

Now Zuvowang wasn't the smartest of people no matter the race although there were less intelligent people. If he had been smarter he would have figured out that Brigid was of his bloodline. However Gard himself had that belief about Balor but no way to prove it. Zuvowang wouldn't know how to prove it even if he did believe it or had figured it out. Zuvowang simply wasn't the smartest of people.

When it came down to it, Zuvowang's intelligence was as great as his speed. He could play a lyre to some to the extent that he couldn't be called good or bad at it. His strength was the greatest of his abilities. He was slow and uneducated in many things since he had been educated in three things: music, battle and spiritual beliefs. He was excellent when it came to battle, less so when it came to music and spiritual beliefs. This was just how Zuvowang had turned out.

Zuvowang continued to look at Brigid. She was a pretty little thing, very thin. She had a scar under her right eye and a more prominent one on her upper right arm.

Unbelievable. No matter the age or gender it seemed like an Evabon would have a scar.

Zuvowang stopped the mount he was on and dismounted. Brigid looked up at him as he lifted her up and put her on the mount and he himself soon remounted.

"What's your nojart's name?" Brigid patted the mount on the head.

"Ain't got one." And with that Zuvowang continued on his way with a new companion. They were almost there!


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome back everyone. In this chapter we introduce our villain. And yes, Thomeheb's namesake is a type of wild animal. Enjoy and review.**

**Tass**

The Baron Tass had grown fat in recent years. He was not like Octavius who was in fact more muscle Tass was genuinely overweight. An orange-eyed wildcat with black hair, Tass was rather gluttonous and slothful. He always had a goblet in his hand and usually sitting down if his lizard slaves weren't carrying him from place to place. He favorite activities included drinking, watching the gladiators fight and being carried around the gardens of New Thundera.

As he sat in his throne room, sipping from his goblet wondering where his right hand Grubber was an Evabon walked in, two actually but the little girl he had no interest in.

"Tass, I have heard that you eat as much as a Thomeheb!" The charcoal grey Evabon's comment caused Tass to glare. Who had said such things about him? "But they lie! You eat more than one!"

"Captain, what means this? Who let this gladiator out of the arena?" Tass looked to the captain of the guard, a bored looking dinofelis. The captain just shrugged. "Who are you? I've never seen you before? Are you a new gladiator?"

"I am no gladiator, I am Zuvowang!" There was much laughter from the court. To them Gard was nothing more but a bogeyman to scare children, Zuvowang a fictional strong man and Dalv a mythical mad man. This Evabon claiming to be Zuvowang was one of the funniest things they'd ever heard in a long time. "Do not laugh at me! I am the Beast of Wang and I have come to free my pack!"

"Do you claim kinship with any of the gladiators?" Tass took another sip from his goblet.

"All the Evabon here as well as all the lizards for I come to free both races here!" Tass looked at his goblet and then threw it aside. If he had really heard that then he had enough drink for today. "I will fight for their freedom! I will fight your champion in the arena and when I win you will free us all!"

"Why?" Tass was thinking what everyone else was. "Why should I free your race? You are of a lesser race? Why should we listen to one such as you?"

"Because I challenge you for the freedom of both!" Tass burst into laughter. This Evabon was so stupid it was funny! A Evabon challenging a cat? This Evabon would make a great jester! "Again you laugh at me? I will remove you from that throne of yours you gluttonous sloth if you laugh at me again!" Tass angrily brought his fist down.

"Sloth! Sloth! You dare call one far above you something as low as a sloth?" The Evabon just walked up to Tass and lifted the throne with Tass on it all by himself. The anger in Tass' voice soon turned to shock. This Evabon couldn't have been Zuvowang! "What the! How are you so strong?"

The Evabon who indeed was Zuvowang replied with three words. "HAVE AT THEE!" And with that Zuvowang threw Tass thirty-five feet across to the other end of the throne room! He had done it as if he was a champion spear thrower at a spear-throwing match! Well, Zuvowang was an athlete so it was normal for him to be able to do that. He had trained by lifting a Thomeheb everyday since it was an infant when he had been a teenager after all.

The guards started to walk towards Zuvowang with spears pointed at him only until a voice spoke out. "Hold!" Everyone turned to look at the caracal, Hecate. She was about forty-two years old, golden-eyed and black haired. For a noblewoman getting on in years, she was very much respected. Her late husband Atlas had been a renowned public speaker on the evil that was slavery and there were those who had agreed with him. Hecate herself was known for paying her slaves with money, so they were more employees than slaves. "This Zuvowang and the girl who have come with him shall be my guests! Harm them and you shall pay!"

The guards backed away. Tass glared and began to plot. Brabantio, Voltimand and Octavius would enjoy the next fight.


	5. Chapter 5

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

**A Fight to the Death**

Hecate had taken Zuvowang and Brigid to her home. This would be a sanctuary for these two. For Brigid at least! They had barely been in the home of Hecate ten minutes when Zuvowang had been called to the arena. Not even questioning it, Zuvowang left.

As soon as Zuvowang had left, Brigid turned to look up at Hecate. Perhaps the caracal knew something of her father.

"Ma'am, have you seen my father in the arena?" Brigid deeply hoped that someone would have seen her father.

"What is your father's name?"

"Casca!" Once Brigid said her father's name a look of sadness appeared on Hecate's face. Instantly, Brigid knew that her father had been in the arena and had died in the arena.

"He fought against Brabantio, Voltimand and Octavius but he couldn't stand up to all three of them." Hecate wrapped her arms around the Evabon girl. She had done this with her own daughter who had been taken from her by the rats. It seemed that Hecate would never see her daughter again. As Brigid cried softly over the death of her father, Hecate could only wonder if Zuvowang would fall against the three champions just as Casca had.

Indeed Zuvowang was doing fine on his own. He had already knocked Voltimand into the tusk of a dead thomeheb. One would have expected Voltimand to die but the tusk had not hit any organs since it was sticking into Voltimand's right shoulder.

"Brabantio! Octavius! Help me get loose from this thing!" Sadly, Voltimand's comrades ignored him. This enraged Zuvowang. Why wouldn't these two help their friend? Didn't they care?

"Why attack me when your comrade needs you?"

"Because there is glory to be had in killing the great Zuvowang! The coward who dared to spare his enemies!" At what Brabantio said Zuvowang burst into laughter. Confused, Brabantio and Octavius both looked at one another. What did this old coot have to laugh about?

"Many have tried!" And with that taunt an enraged Octavius charged at Zuvowang. Zuvowang easily tossed his foe aside where he got caught on a spike on the wall. Now it was just him and Brabantio.


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome back everyone. Here is the climax of this story. Enjoy and review.**

**Rebellion**

Zuvowang held Brabantio up. Filled with rage and shame at his defeat, Brabantio looked up at Tass. Tass held out a fist and all eyes were on him. Brabantio's eyes were on the fist. Life or death that was what would be decided! Tass extended his thumb and brought it down. Brabantio glared for a second before a smile came to his lips.

"He is yours to kill, Zuvowang! You are my new champion and shall be slave with the rest of your people!" The moment Tass said that there was an outcry from the audience. Tass was going back on his word! He promised that he'd free all the slaves if Zuvowang won! This wasn't fair!

"I'll freeze in the ninth circle before I kill for sport!" And with that Zuvowang threw Brabantio into Tass' box. Zuvowang then held up his fists. "Thunderans! Lizards! Evabon all! Hear me! You've seen the Baron Tass go back on his word! Did he not promise freedom to all the slaves if I won! He is a tyrant who would hold the entire world under his boot! If you would all truly be free! Then rise up! Rise up against him! Thunderan! Lizard! Evabon! We are brothers and sisters all! We are all sons and daughters of third earth! RISE UP AGAINST THIS TYRANT!" They all rose up! Lizards, Evabon, Thunderans all! Zuvowang had fought honorably and Tass had not even kept his word. It was clear who the hero and villain were here.

Brabantio quickly killed Tass. He figured since Tass had ordered his death then he was no longer loyal to the baron. It was only logical and Brabantio got to do what he was best at and most enjoyed: killing. The last thing that had gone through Tass' head besides how could this have happened was where was Grubber?

The moment Brabantio killed Tass his guards ran forward to avenge their master. Ten of them there were. Seven of them Brabantio killed before falling to their spears. His injuries included a broken jaw, cracked ribs and a punctured lung. It had been the punctured lung that had been the fatal wound.

After it was all over Lizard, Thunderan, Evabon all were cheering Zuvowang's name. When all was said and done they all went their separate ways. The Lizards and Evabon went home. Zuvowang and Brigid went to the Valley of the Tombs. Balor was nervous around Brigid. He knew how to interact with children of another race from his friendship with the Wily twins, he just wasn't sure how to interact with another child of his own race. Brigid found him cute but kind of weird. It wasn't until Dalv pointed it out that she was descended from Zuvowang that he started to treat her as family and she treated him as the same. As for the Thunderans, they returned to the ruins of Thundera lead by Grubber who had left Tass' employment a few hours ago without notice. Hecate got to see her daughter again whom had been taken by the rats and so there were happy endings for all.

But there were still Voltimand and Octavius who were still stuck to the tusk of the Thomeheb and spike on the wall respectively. They had been abandoned to die to keep their bloodlust from being fed anymore.

As for Brabantio, his body still lay where he had fallen. His body had fallen back and now rested on the throne of Tass.

This was where the Ever-Living would find them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome back everyone. Here is the last chapter of this story. My next story will begin on Sunday and shall be called "Far from the Valley." Enjoy and review.**

**Mumm-Ra**

Night had fallen when the Ever-Living had come to the arena. Brabantio was dead, his spirit having not yet escaped from the frozen ninth circle to become an eternal, and his comrades Voltimand and Octavius had not yet freed themselves.

Here was what Mumm-Ra searched for. The animals had given some results but what he needed were beings born of Third Earth since the ThunderCats themselves had found allies in those born of Third Earth. Here were three Evabon of dark nature. He would give new life to them they would be his heralds upon Third Earth. They would find the last of the stones they would bring him the Spirit Stone and the Eye of Thundera... Yes, these slaves would do just that as long as they were promised blood to spill!

He had new slaves and they would not fail!

**The End**


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